nzfauna Posted June 24, 2013 Report Share Posted June 24, 2013 Hi there. My tank is 40L, freshwater, and heated to about 23 degrees Celsius, with a few fish in it. It is one of those hooded ones where the biological filter system is all built in. I also have a UV steriliser that I will turn off at night. I would prefer to turn the filter off at night, because the tank is in my bedroom, but leave the heater on. Am I able to do this, without detriment to the fish? The considerations I can think of are: - Temperature gradient/mixing - would the warmer water rising to top/cooler water sinking to bottom over night cause any problems? Can the fish choose a comfortable spot? I'm presuming it would be OK. - Oxygen - will there be enough oxygen without filter action? The entire surface of the water is open to air. I'm presuming it would be OK. - Biological filter - will the bacteria remain moist enough to survive the night? I'm presuming it would be OK. Thank you, NZF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calculator Posted June 24, 2013 Report Share Posted June 24, 2013 Temperature gradients could be a little problem, but not that it would be a major problem. Oxygen due to little water movement could be a problem, That depends on your stocking and what plants you have. The bio filter will be the main problem, if the filter drains and dries out your bio filter will die every night. Also with out water cycling through the filter ammonia will build up in the tank. Other then that I have tanks in my room and I don't mind the sound of moving water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted June 25, 2013 Report Share Posted June 25, 2013 My filter used to be off at night, didn't have any filter or water chemistry issues. There isn't any reason to turn the heater off though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godly3vil Posted June 25, 2013 Report Share Posted June 25, 2013 I used to turn the filter off in the tank that was in my room and never had an issue either, tank was going for over a year like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted June 25, 2013 Report Share Posted June 25, 2013 It's different if you're doing it constantly. Then bacteria will build up more other places around the tank instead of in the filter. You'll just be turning it into mechanical filter not biological. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disgustipated Posted June 25, 2013 Report Share Posted June 25, 2013 i dunno but whenever i turn my filters off for a little while, once they go back on they blow a whole lot of crap back into the tank. even when they've just been cleaned. what is the reason you want to turn them off? just because of the noise? or... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted June 25, 2013 Report Share Posted June 25, 2013 never had a problem with noisy filters power useage is next to nothing don't understand why you would bother, more effort, more risk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Posted June 25, 2013 Report Share Posted June 25, 2013 Probably depends on the type of filter. HOB overflow style ones are quite noisy on tanks that size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disgustipated Posted June 25, 2013 Report Share Posted June 25, 2013 having the sound of running water in my room just makes me get up to pee more often. other than that, it doesn't bother me, quite soothing really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted June 25, 2013 Report Share Posted June 25, 2013 my HOB is only noisy if the water level drops, quite useful really, I fill it to a set level and it takes exactly 1 week to evaporate enough water to make it noisy, which annoys my missus, which means water change time the fish in that tank are always very happy and healthy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzfauna Posted June 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2013 Thanks for all the responses so far! Yes, the reason I want to turn if off at night is solely to eliminate noise. It's not a noisy filter, I just feel more settled with complete silence (I live in an areas with complete silence at night). Occasionally the filter will make some noise, but I just turn it off and on until the impeller or whatever jiggles back into place. The water trickle noise is non-existent because it has a nifty little extender that means the overflow empties out underwater. So my question is just about whether turning the filter off, but leaving the heater on, for 9 hours a day is going to kill my fish. My tank filter is not HOB (hang on back). It is built into the hood, like these: http://www.hollywoodfishfarm.co.nz/prod ... ms/m/2591/ I also have a UV steriliser in it - which I will always turn off at night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disgustipated Posted June 25, 2013 Report Share Posted June 25, 2013 nah it won't kill your fish. i would not recommend turning it off for much longer than 9 hours though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.